Pneumatic-organ



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

M. CLARK.

PNEUMATIG ORGAN.

Patented Apr. 26,1898.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. M. CLARK. PNEUMATIG. ORGAN.

(No Model.)

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PATENT rricn.

MELVILLE CLARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PN EU MATlC-ORGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,127, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed December 20,1897. Serial No. 662,581. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, MELvILLE CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic-Organs, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

In the drawings, Figure l is a fore-and-aft section through the manual and wind-chest and action of an organ having my improvements. Fig. 2isa detail top plan of the windchest, showing subbass-action. Fig. 3 is a detail end elevation of the subbass action shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail sections, as at the plane indicated by the line 4 5 on Fig. 1, showing the positions corresponding to the use and non-use of .the subbass-stop. Fig. 6 is a detail section at the line G 6 on Fig. l. Fig. 7 is a Vertical section through the wind-chest, reed-chambers, and pneumaticaction of an organ having my invention applied to a plurality of reed groups or blocks mounted on the one wind-chest. Fig. 8 is a detail elevation, on a magnified scale, of the inner side of the wind-chest opposite the primary pneumatics, illustrating the arrangement of pneumatic-passages by which one primary pneumatic controls a plurality of motor-pneumatic reed-valves.

The leading feature of this invention relates to improvements in the structure of those reed-valves which are made to serve also as the motor-pneumatics, so that they are termen pneumatic-valves, and the structure of the blocks which have the airpassages leading to such pneumatic-valves, which are arranged so that the entire pneumatic-valve can be swung off its seat to obtain access to the reeds.

Certain general features of construction are the same as shown in my Patent No. 576,032, dated January 2G, 18W-that is to say, the wind-chest A, which is connected with the exhaust-bellows, the upper terminal of which is shown at B, has mounted upon it the reedblocks C C C, dmc., which have a plurality of reed-chambers C C C, ranged one in front of another and communicating with the windy chest by throats Cb Cb Ck, leading from their lower ends, respectively, horizontally to the wind-chest, such throats being therefore successively one underneath another, the upper end of the reed-block being out off obliquely, forming a sloping seat for the reed-valve. The primary pneumatics are mounted upon the inner vertical face of a rabbeted block D, in which are formed air-passages D, opening into the primary pneumatics,respectively,and connected by tubes Dk with a tracker-range. (Not shown.) Branch d ucts Dc are also shown leading from the ducts D through the unreduced base of the rabbeted blocks into the wind-chest and connected within the latter by tubes Dd to ducts E in the base-board E, said ducts E leading outward and opening at their outer ends in the rear of the manual, where they are respectively controlled by Valves f at the rear end of levers F,which are actuated at their forward ends by the keys G of the manual.

Opposite each primary pneumatic the wall of the wind-chest has an aperture A, from which, in the substance of said wall, ducts Ab A, ctc., to any number corresponding to the number of pneumatic-valves which are to be controlled by each primary pneumatic lead either directly to the motor-pneumatics, respectively, or to a point in the board at which iiexible tubes G G G, dic., may be connected to complete the communication with the pneumatics, respectively. In whichever manner the communication is completed these ducts Ab A, 'ec., lead ultimately out through the wall of the wind-chest, on which, for convenience in making the connections hereinafter described, there are mounted exterior horizontal ribs Ak Ak, duc., through which the ducts extend to their forward edges, and to said ribs, at the forward edge, are hinged the backs or lined walls II H H, dce., of the motor-pneumatics or pneumatic-valves, said backs having formed in them the ducts 7L h, registering with the ducts Al A, &c., at the abutting edges of the ribs Ak and said pneumatic-backs II. Said pneumatic-backs are hinged to the ribs at the upper side, so that the pivot of the hinge is at the outer angle of the junction between the two, so that the pneumatics are adapted to be folded back to permit the withdrawal of the reeds from their respective chambers in the block. The abutting edges of the pneu- IOO matic-backs and the ribs Ak are provided with suitable packing L, so that when the pneumatic-valves are on their seats an air-tight joint is formed at the hinge, and the air-ducts leading from the ports Aa to the pneumatics, respectively, are continuous and tight. Itis most convenient to construct these pneumatic-valves by irst making the bellows portion of the device complete with both its walls HL and Hb and the flexible connection Hc between them, the wall HfL being faced, as shown at Hd, to give it a proper surface to seat over the reed-chambers, and the opposite wall Hb being aperturcd, as shown at He, to register with the aperture he in the pneumatic-back H. The use of the part H", however, is merely a matter of convenience, and it is to be considered functionally as a part of the hinged back I-I, the entire pneumatic-valve comprising such hinged back, which constitutes the fixed wall of the pneumatic, and the bellows portion, whose front or moving wall constitutes the valve proper. It will be noticed that this valve or moving wall of the pneumatic rises from its seat not by a swinging movement, as would be the case if it were hinged at one edge according to the customary construction, but, on the contrary, moves bodily away from the seat when the pneumatic is collapsed, thus affording all the reedchambers in the block equal opening and giving them equal opportunity to sound. Since this moving wall or valve portion of the pneumatic-valve is connected to the fixed wall only by the flexible bellows sides, it is desirable to guide it so that it shall not by lateral shifting of its position fail to completely cover its seat in the reed-block. This is accomplished by guide-pins c c, which protrude between the several pneumatic-valves and outside the outermost in each row and guide them in their fluctuating movement to and from their seats. In order that no valve may fail to properly rest upon its seats, notwithstanding slight variations in the thickness of the leather employed for the bellows sides, which might produce a variation, I provide at the lower forward edge of the block the threaded studs C", and I extend the pneumatic-back H and notch the extension, as seen at Hf, so that when it is swung down to position the notch receives the threaded end of the stud and the extension of the pneumatic-back lodges upon a nut CY and may be retained by the nut CY', and said nuts may be adjusted on the threaded stud to insure the proper seating of the valve as well as the retention of the entire pneumatic against accidental displacement in shipment or by jarring of the instrument when in use.

M is a swell-box which completely incloses the reed-block, having the reed-chambers and also the pneumatic-valve above the same. This swell is hinged at m and adapted to be opened and closed by any suitable sto p mechanism (not illustrated) to modulate the tone. For lesser modulations the fixed portion of the swell-box is provided with apertures Mb M", which are covered by a valve Mc, which may be opened and closed by any suitable stop mechanism. (Not illustrated.) It will be seen that this consolidation of the motorpneumatio with the valve permits such complete inclosing of the entire group of soundproducing devices as to totally obscure the tone by muffling, if desired.

I have shown in Fig. I, in combination with a single group of reed-chambers in one reedblock, an octave of subbass operated b y pneumatic-valves of similar construction involving the same principle-that is, having the pneumatic constructed and located so that its moving wall constitutes the valve and at the same time adapted to bc swung bodily off from the valve-seat to expose and permit the removal of the reed. This construction will now be described.

P is the subbass-reed. block, having a single set of reed-chambers P, opening by a throat Pb into the wind-chest and closed by pneumatic-valves, of each of which the back Q is hinged at q to a block R, which is conveniently mounted on the top of the windchest. The ducts Q in the pneumatic-backs Q register with the ducts R in the block R, in which said ducts open at the upper surface of the block and are adapted to be closed by a slide-valve S, which has apertures s, corresponding to the ducts R, so that at one position of the slide-valve all said apertures are registered with the mouths of the ducts R, while at a slightly-removed position all said mouths are closed by the slide-valve. Flexible pipes S extend from the ports s in the slide-valve to short pipes Sb, which are inserted through the back wall of the windchest and extend across the entire chamber thereof and into the mouths of the ducts A.c in the forward wall, and thus constitute complete communication from the ports A, controlled by the primary-pneumatic valves, to the slide-valve S; and when said slide-valve is seated with its ports registering with the ports R, as in Fig. li, there is thus afforded complete communication from the ports A to the subbass pneumatic-valves, respectively. The same primary pneumatics, therefore, which operate the pneumatic-valves which control the reeds in the block C operate the pneumatic-valves of the corresponding subbass-reeds when the valve S is properly set for that purpose. To operate the slide-valve S, I provide a vertical rock-shaft SC, mounted on the side of the wind-chest and connected by a crank-arm Sd with the end of the slidevalve, a suitable stop Sc being connected to another crank-arm S" at the lower end of the rock-shaft Se, and by pushing in the stop the slide-valve is moved to the position shown in Fig. 5, cutting off the subbass, and by pulling it out the valve is moved to the position shown in Fig. et, bringing the subbass into action. The subbass pneumatic-valves are provided with the same means of adjustment ICO IIO

IZO

as the main valves, consisting of the threaded stud CX, having the adjusting and securing nuts CY and CZ.

In Fig. 7 Ihave illustrated merely the multiplication of the reed-blocks on a single wind-chest to show the adaptability of my improvement to such a structure by providing a plurality of ducts leading off from the apertures An, which may be connected by flexible tubes extending within the windchest to suitable continuations of said ducts, respectively, in the ribs Ak, corresponding to the several reed blocks whose respective pneumatic-valves are hinged to said ribs, as already described. Further description of this modification is deemed unnecessary, and it will be understood that the subbass octave shown in Fig. l is merely an instance of the use of one of these extra ducts AC by means of a tube extending outside the wind-chest, this arrangement being adopted merely because it is deemed best to control the subbass by the slide-valve S rather than by a mute.

I claim- 1. In a reed-organ in combination with the reed-chambers, motor-pneumatics or bellows whose moving sides constitute the valves for the reed-chambers, respectively, such bellows each having the back adapted to be fixed with respect to the seat of such valve (formed by the moving wall of the bellows) and releasable and movable at will away from the valveseat to afford unobstructed access to the reeds and permit their removal.

2. In a reed-organ, in combination with the wind-chest, the reed-blocks mounted thereon having a plurality of reed-chambers corresponding to each note, all opening` at a common face or valve-seat; a motor-pneumatic or bellows whose moving side constitutes the valve adapted to seat on such face to control all such reed-chambers; a primary pneumatic which controls such motor-pneumatic; the air-duct leading into such motor-pneumatic being formed in the back of the same and in a fixed portion of the wall of the wind-chest, said pneumatic-back being movably joined to such xed portion at a junction plane transverse to the duct.

3. In combination with a wind-chest, the reed-block' mounted thereon having a plurality of reed-chambers opening upward through an outer face of the reed-block; motor-pneumatics having their backs adapted to be fixed with respect to the faces of the reed-blocks and releasable and movable at will and their moving walls adapted to serve as valves to seat on said face; air-ducts leading to the motor-pneumatics respectively, having two mouths opening respectively into the windchest and to the outer air; primary pneumatics mounted outside the wind-chest carryin g valves which control both said mouths; said primary pneumatics having suitable communication with the wind-chest, and suitable means for venting the same, substantially as set forth.

l. In a reed-organ, in combination with a wind-chest, a reed-block mounted exteriorly thereto having a plurality of reed-chambers opening upward through an outer face of such reed-block; a motor-pneumatic or bellows having its back fixed with respect to said face and releasable and movable at will and its moving wall adapted to advance and retreat bodily with respect to the face and to seat thereon to operate as a valve to close the mouths of the reed-chambers; a duct leading through such fixed back and communicating with the outer air and with the wind-chest, and a primary pneumatic to control both such communications.

5. In combination with the wind-chest, a reed-block mounted exteriorly thereto having a plurality of reed-chambers opening upward through an exterior face of suoli block a motor-pneumatic having its back hinged to the wind-chest and adapted to swing toward said face of the reed-block and to be stopped relatively thereto, and having its moving wall adapted to seat on such face and operate as a valve over the mouths of the reed-chambers; au airduct leading into such pneumatic through the back thereof from the hinged edge, and communicating at such hinged edge with a duct formed in the wall of the wind-chest,such duct leading to mouths which open respectively to the outer air and into the wind-chest, and a primary pneumatic carrying valves which control both said mouths.

6. In a reed-organ, in combination with the reed-chambers,motor-pneumatics having bellows whose moving sides constitute the valves for the reed-chambers respectively, such bellows having the back adapted to be fixed with respect to such seat, and adjusting devices by which the back is secured and adjusted with respect to the seat to cause the moving wall to seat accurately thereon.

7. In combination with the wind-chest and the reed-blocks mounted exteriorly thereon having a plurality of reed-cells in each block opening through an outer face thereof; a motor-pneumatic havingits moving wall adapted to serve as a valve, seating on such face, the back or fixed wall of such motor-pneumatic being hinged at one edge, and a threaded stud OX adapted to engage the opposite edge of the back, and nuts on said bolt between which said edges engage, whereby said back may be adjustably secured at said edge.

8. In combination with a wind-chest, the primary pneumatics exterior thereto provided with suitable communication therewith and with the outer air, and means for venting the latter; the wall of the wind-chest having an aperture and the primary pneumatic carrying valves which seat at the opposite ends of said aperture respectively; subbassreeds and the pneumatic-valves which control the same; ducts from said pneumaticvalves, and a slide-valve which is adapted to cover all the mouths of suoli ducts, said slidevalves having ports adapted to register with IOO IIO

all said mouths, and flexible pipe Connection my hand, in the presence of tWo Witnesses, at from such ports leading to the primary-pneu- Chicago, Illinois, this 10th clay of December, matie-Valve seats, and suitable means for 1897.

I( moving the slide-Valve to Cause it to close or MELVILLE CLARK. /A Y 5 bring its ports into registration with the Witnesses: f/ mouths of the pneumatiovztlve duets. CHAS. S. BURTON,

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set l JEAN ELLIOTT. 

